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Aviation History
1951
1951 - 0288.PDF
182 FLIGHT, 15 February 1951 MAKING AIR TRANSPORT PAY —by Analysing Past Experience : Mr. Masefield's Brancker Memorial Lecture 1AST Monday, February 12th, the Ninth Brancker. Memorial Lecture was delivered before the Instituteof Transport. The author of this year's paper was Mr. Peter Maseneld, M.A., F.R.Ae.S., M.Inst.T., chief executive of British European Airways, and his lecture was entitled Some Economic Factors in Air Transport Operation (with Particular Emphasis on Short-haul Services). Here we give abstracts from the major portion of the first part—that dealing with the historical background of Britain's air- transport industry. In the second, with which we shall deal next week, the lecturer defined the fundamentals which influence air transport economics and suggested ways and means by which those fundamentals might be used to deter- mine and improve the economic position of an operating con- cern. He devoted the final part of his paper to an examina- tion of the influence-of the major variables on costs and revenue. Introducing his subject, Mr. Maseneld said that after a some-what giddy and unstable youth, commercial air transport might perhaps be said to have reached the years of discretion. Although,in the 32 years of its existence, it had become a vital force in the everyday life of the modern world, up to a very short while agothe general emphasis of its progress had still been on the words "air transport" rather than on the word "commercial." Thefact was, he continued, that if commercial air transport was to fulfil the proud destiny in which all concerned with it believed,there could be no doubt that its commercial emphasis must be far more predominantly stressed than it had been in the past. Toachieve that purpose air transport must be able to sustain itself in the air financially as well as practically. It was a conviction of this need for a still closer study of theeconomic factors influencing its progress that had led him to choose this particular subject for his lecture.. Although, allconcerned with air transport looked earnestly and eagerly for that philosophers' stone or Midas touch which would turn all theyapproached into gold—which would convert uneconomic opera- tions into profits and expensive aircraft into paragons of per-formance—there was, of course, no short cut, no royal road to profits. There was only the hard way: the way of toil and en-deavour. Nevertheless, the path was easier if we had one vital factor—knowledge of the economic facts, and used judgment intheir application. All too often in the past the essential facts had either not been available or their essentiality had not been clearlyrecognized. Before turning to the aforesaid task of economic analysis [saidthe lecturer] a glance at the economic history of air transport can be salutary and can afford a background to the complex pro-blems which have to be dissected. As Sir Francis Shelmerdine pointed out in the foundation"Brancker Memorial Lecture" in 1935, the prologue to British Air Transport was between September 9th and 26th, 1911,when Mr. Gustav Hamel, Mr. E. F. Driver and Mr. Clement Greswell made twenty official air-mail flights for the G.P.O.between Hendon and Windsor to celebrate the Coronation of King George V. They used two Bleriot monoplanes and aFarman biplane. Block times for the 19 miles varied between 15 and 35 minutes, offering block speeds of between 76 and 33m.p.h. The "British Coronation Aerial Post"—the first and onlyBritish official service for the carriage by air of public mails up to the end of the 1914-18 War—was organized by Mr. LewisPoole and Sir Walter Windham with the sanction and support of the Postmaster General of the day, now Lord Samuel. The Hendon-Windsor flights of 1911 were operated by theGraham White Aviation Co., Ltd., and, in the twenty -successful journeys, 26,288 letters, 97,017 postcards and 19 newspaperswere carried, weighing a total of 1,015 lb. The operation was run as a charity, stamped envelopes being sold to the public atIs Id each and postcards at 6^d each. As a happy augury for the future long-term development of British air transport, theCoronation Aerial Post ran at a substantial profit. Thus did air transport do good on its first public service. Itoperated at one of the highest revenue rates ever achieved— working out at some £25.8 for each load ton-mile which ismore than 60 times the present average air-mail rate. Operating costs were also high, working out at £272 a flying hour—approxi-mately the same as that of a Stratocruiser and equivalent to £6 an aircraft-mile or £12 for each load ton-mile. So far as one cansee, the British Post Office got a good advertisement and achieved the carriage of " air mails " at considerable delay for practicallynothing—a policy which some airline operators would say that the G.P.O. has been inclined to pursue diligently ever since. After that prologue there was a break in civil activity untilafter the First World War. However, in the Summer of 1917 a " Civil Aerial Transport Committee " had been formed underthe chairmanship of Lord Northcliffe, to report on possibilities. Its far-sighted contention that the " fullest possible developmentof civil air transport services after the War is a national neces- sity " was not followed. The first steps in British air transport after the War weretaken by the R.A.F. Shortly after the Armistice the Communi- cations Flight at Hendon, equipped with 'Airco D.H.4s, wasexpanded into a squadron and received some Handley Page 0/400 bombers converted for passenger-carrying. This unit wasengaged on communications duties between London and Paris. In December, 1918, the Air Ministry incorporated the Squadronin No. 86 (Communication) Wing, to provide a rapid means of passenger and mail transport between London and Paris during BRITISH AIR TRANSPORT : PRE-WAR AND POST-WAR FINANCIAL UESULTS first four years (1919- 1924) (A.T. & T., H.P.T., D.A., B.M.- A.N.C.) Imperial Airways (1924 1939) Private operating com- panies, 1924-1939 (B.A.L., R.A.S J.A.L., S.A.L., H.A.L., etc.) Total inter-war years (1919-1939) B.OA.C, B.E.A. (inc. B.S.A.A.), I945-I9S0 Private operating companies, 1945- 1950 (C.I.A., R.A.S., etc.) Total post-war years (I94S-I9S0) Totals, I9I9-I9S0 (ex- cluding war years) Actual Amounts | Equivalent Amounts in 1951 Money Values Expendi- ture (Q 782,300 15,427,700 3,231,000 Revenue (£) 235,600 9,659,100 1,721,700 19,441,000 11,616,400 153,250,300 1.885.600 101,185,000 1,272,100 155,135.900 102.457.100 174,576,900 I 114,073.500 1 Deficit (£) 546,700 5,768,600 1,509,300 7,824,600 52,065,300 613,500 52.678.800 60.503,400 Cost per C.T.M. (d) 109.4 41.3 315 Revenue perC.T.M. w 32.9 25.9 16.8 40.1 24.0 54.5 42.7 36.0 28.9 54.2 35.9 52.2 34.2 Deficit per C.T.M. (J) 76.5 15.4 14.7 Expendi- ture (O 952,500 43,744,000 9,290,800 16.1 53.987,300 18.5 !3.8 191,523,000 2,648,800 !3 3 : I94.!7I,8OO 18.0 ] 248,159,100 Revenue (C) 283,000 27,513,COO 4,909,800 32,706,300 124,523,000 l,822,S00 126.345.500 159,051,800 Deficit (£) 669,500 16,230,500 4,381,000 21,281,000 67,000,000 826,300 67,826,300 89,107,300 Cost perC.T.M. <d) 133.2 117.4 90.5 II 1.8 68.1 60.2 67.9 74.4 Revenue per C.T.M. (d) 39.8 73.8 47.9 67.7 44.3 41.4 44.2 47.7 Deficit perC.T.M. <<o 93.4 43.6 42.6 44.1 23.8 18.8 23.7 26.7 B U
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